Terry Gould looks on as Zharney Brevard practices her uppercuts and Moses Molina works his abdomen.

BRIDGETON — Tri-City Boxing, Bridgeton’s newest sports organization, is off to a great start with two of its members coming back from the Arnold Fitness Exposition in Columbus, Ohio sporting both a gold and a silver medal around their necks.

Moses Molina won a gold medal in the seventeen-years-old and up open-weight category and Micah Branch won silver in the sevnteen-years-old and up welterweight category.

Giving credit where it was due, Molina said he owed the victory in large part to Terry Gould, the president of Tri-City Boxing, who along with vice-president Jerry Young is the driving force behind the organization that seeks to introduce youths and even those over eighteen to the world of pugilism.

“Some days I didn’t want to come to practice, but Mr. Gould really pushed me. He said the training should always be the hardest part, so that way the fighting is easy, sir,” said Molina.

Punctuating every sentence with a “sir”, and otherwise acting as the very model of manners, Molina is an example of the type of person that Gould said the discipline and dedication required to succeed in boxing can produce.

“If he were not here, he could be out on the streets getting into trouble,” said Gould.

“Here” is the third floor of the Ashley - McCormick building. The organization had been without a home ever since Gould and Young decided to splinter from the Bridgeton PAL and The Boys and Girls Club of Vineland.

“We did not feel that PAL was very supportive of the boxing program,” said Gould. This was despite the fact that he and Young were president and vice-president of the PAL at that time. Gould is also a retired corrections officer for the state corrections department.

“People get the idea that boxing is violent, so they do not like the idea of involving their kids in it,” said Young. “Actually, youth boxing has less injuries than basketball, soccer, football, almost any sport.”

The sport’s association with violence made it difficult for the group to find a facility to use.

Young said a Bridgeton church was on the verge of letting them use space in a building it owned, but at the last moment decided not to sign the contract.

The owner of the Ashley-McCormick building, Hank Murad, agreed to let them use the top floor after hearing of their plight. Since Gould is paying almost all of the organization’s expenses out of his own pocket for the time being, Murad also leased the space to them at a reasonable price.

“It is much cheaper than we would normally pay for a space this size,” said Young. How much is a space that size normally?

“We were looking at an old transmission building on Landis Avenue, and they were going to ask for $5,500 per month,” said Young. Not only was the lease too pricey, Young and Gould did not want to move the organization from Bridgeton where they both live.

In order to pay for the organization’s expenses, or at least a paltry portion of them, Tri-City Boxing is searching for sponsors primarily in the form of local businesses.

The sponsorship levels range from $25 for a friend to $500 or more for a platinum member. Gould said they are having T-shirts made for the children in the program with advertising prominently displayed on the back. The kids will wear them when attending competitions.

The organization also charges a membership fee of $60 for those between the ages of eight and seventeen, and $100 for anybody who is older.

Young explains there is slim profit to be gained from the fees.

“To be insured when you are practicing at home or in the gym or to participate in any fights, you have to be a member of USA Boxing,” explained Gould. “Forty-four of the hundred dollars goes towards registering, and the little we have left goes towards gas to get to and from competitions, and towards everything here.”

The third-floor gym is equipped with a full-sized ring, a multitude of bags, and various other pieces of workout equipment.

Though over twenty young men and women have boxed under Gould and Young since they began with the Bridgeton PAL, Tri-City now comprises about nine steady members. They attend their practices Monday through Friday from 5 - 9 p.m.

Gould and Young are looking to expand though, and for their organization to put down roots in the city.

“We are looking to become a fixture here,” said Gould. “We had offers for buildings in other towns but we did not want to go to Vineland or Penns Grove, we wanted stay right in Bridgeton.”

Gould is not complaining about the cost of running the organization either. He actually drove Molina and Branch to the Ohio competition at his own expense.

“I get paid out of satisfaction,” he said. “When those kids develop from where they cannot throw a punch to where they have a gold medal around their necks, that’s the payoff.”

Anybody wishing to get involved may call Mr. Gould personally at 856-332-4488 or 856-369-5843.